Going Overtime:
Modern Prog. Band of the Month

Although the people involved have been playing in and around various bands since the late 70's, Brother Ape didn't officially form until the early 2000's, when vocalist & guitarist Stefan Damicolas and drummer Max Bergman recruited in keyboardist Gunnar Maxén and began writing/recording ideas that led to the formation of a dynamic sound which (so far anyway) nobody has been able to duplicate.

Simply put, Brother Ape are one of the hardest bands in today's prog. rock scene to wrap one's head around: they blend Yes-like harmonies with the sort of skittering rhythms and propulsion you'd associate with drum n' bass artists like Venetian Snares whilst pulling off technical maneuvers not too far off from 70's jazz fusion pioneers Weather Report...sometimes all in the space of a single track..and usually with some pop sensibility and some of the finest drum work this side of the century thrown in for good measure, as tracks like these might illustrate-





As of 2010, the band has four LPs out, all of which I drew from to put together the downloadable sampler near the top of the post. Hence, the band can be divided into four 'phases" of development so far, each one a more experimental step than the last. Makes you wonder what they'll do next on the album they're currently in the midst of working on! :)

So anyway everyone, enjoy the compilation and the vids. I will PM any of these albums to those who request them! :beer:

Anyone have the megaupload/mediafire for that Ritual album?

Not what you want, but Baggs has the first Ritual on tape somewhere.

Recall it was okay but not much more.

Jack Pat did not ask Baggs' opinion. :)

yo
i realize this thread is ancient.
honestly i don't even know how active this forum is so i may be talking to ghosts, but i was wondering if there's gonna be any more to this guide like, ever...

i've managed to get my hands on nearly all of it.
i've yet to sort through most, but i'm completely hooked on Ritual & Big Big Train's albums and even if it turns out i dislike all the rest, those are still much better odds than i've had yet in my music hunting.
thanks to the ridiculous number of bands out there i'm having trouble finding anything post 90's that isn't total crap.

the only modern work i liked so far that didn't come from this list is by Maudlin of the Well (i prefer their lighter work, but their heavier stuff is still very good, if not my thing.)

honestly i'm kinda surprised they didn't make the list.
their last album before turning into Kayo Dot (which i'm still on the fence about), called Part The Second, is particularly awesome.
it's also completely free from their site, so anyone reading this has no excuse not to give it a shot.

i've rambled enough...
here's hoping the Essential Guide gets a second issue.

I've been thinking of adding more to the guide actually: there have been a couple more modern prog. bands and albums that I feel go above and beyond which have not been reviewed so far.

However, I still consider the albums I reviewed here to be a great introduction to modern progressive rock and the places it can go.

The reason I didn't review any of Maudlin of the Well is because even Part The Second had a distinct metal bent, and I purposely excluded anything particularly progressive metal related in order to keep things focused.

that makes sense for all the other works, but Part the Second is, to my ears, so decidedly non-metal, i really don't see how it can be classified as such.

i guess this shouldn't be made into a discussion thread, so i won't press you on it.

still seems an odd description for the album (while being a very good one for the band in general).

guess it doesn't matter too much, once mentioned.
anyone interested can check it out.

anyway, i'm glad to hear you're not gonna retire the thread yet.
can't w8 to see what you got up your sleeve.